Richard, that sounds pretty reasonable for a legitimate contractor, you could probably have it done cheaper, but you would have to stay on top of them. I wouldn't hesitate to hire him at that price as long as he has some good references.

I've gotten burned with contractors in the past and now put every thing in a contract. One I write, not theirs. Just the threat of written contract will scare away the fly by night guys. Maryland has a home improvement commission that licenses companies. They have a web site to look up licenses and complaints. If a licensed home improvement contractor doesn't live up to the contract there is some recourse with the home improvement commission. Does PA have something similar?

It takes a lot of work to write a meaningful contract, especially when you are trying to define quality of workmanship. But I've gotten excellent results and projects completed as promised.

I'd rather do this myself, it takes me longer but at least when it's done I know it's done right. Maybe just get the footers, block work and the floor poured at the most but time is a problem. We need to get this done ASAP so we can get the boiler installed.

Richard S. wrote:There all about 20 feet away and they aren't really huge You could grind them out but that's huge amount of work and you'll never get all of it. We do have one that is pretty close but that's the future base of a table.... I don't have a picture of the stump but here it is before we cut it down.

Sucks cutting down trees like that but a)they were really close to the house and where the new garage is going and b) there was some moss on the roof. House didn't get much sunlight at all on that side.

Remove all organic tree material from under new construction. Any organic material left in the ground will eventually rot and cause the ground to settle. If under a slab, this will result in a void under the slab that could cause future settling and cracking.

It sound like you are off to a good start on you plans. My points are to say that "x" price is a good price you need to know the scope. Make sure the scope is in writing and that the grade of materials are specified. There are a lot of contractors out there that will be glad to beat someone's price but will cheat on scope and materials.

Get 3 indepent prices. Don't reveal what someone else bid but Ok to state an expected budget. Get references and check them out. A good contractor will tell you if he can't meet budget with the stated scope and material expectations. He will be able to suggest cost savings and state the pros and cons of the savings. Not much can be saved on a shell if it is to be done right.

Check with the buiding inspector first and see what he will be looking for. Make sure these items are defined in your scope.

steamup wrote:Remove all organic tree material from under new construction. Any organic material left in the ground will eventually rot and cause the ground to settle.

Yes, aware of that hence the reason we are isnisting on excavator to remove the stumps.

Don't reveal what someone else bid but Ok to state an expected budget.

There's no budget for this project, there's possibly other work like insulating the exterior and siding the whole house so we're getting five quotes altogether with each one requiring more work. The 32K is just for the garage, I'm making sure they know the largest scale project for the right price is where we'll go.

Sting wrote:hire an independent inspector to sign off on each stage if you don't know what its supposed to look like when done

Realistically Sting we could do this entire project ourselves, I've put in a lot of concrete working for a contractor when I was younger and some other projects. I put some sidewalks in 20 years ago a couple different places and they look as good as the day they went in. The issue is not having the manpower and proper tools for a larger job like this and more importantly the time factor. I'll be here all summer tring to get his done, we need to get this completed by the end of July at the very latest.

Richard S. wrote:Sting I'd imagine it would probably cost more to go that route.

Sting wrote:hire an independent inspector to sign off on each stage if you don't know what its supposed to look like when done

Realistically Sting we could do this entire project ourselves, I've put in a lot of concrete working for a contractor when I was younger and some other projects. I put some sidewalks in 20 years ago a couple different places and they look as good as the day they went in. The issue is not having the manpower and proper tools for a larger job like this and more importantly the time factor. I'll be here all summer tring to get his done, we need to get this completed by the end of July at the very latest.

What Sting is saying is not many general contractors have the staff to do all work. Some hire excavators, masons, roofers, etc depending on their expertise. This sometimes depends on job size, workload, skill levels, etc. What they do not do, they subcontract. There is usually a markup on the contract and time (labor) cost to coordinate.

If this is the case, hire the excavator, mason, carpenter direct yourself and cordinate between the trades. This places some of the risk on you but also there usually is savings of 10 to 15% for the subcontract work. This is done all of the time in commercial construction with people called construction managers. Construction managers are a completely different topic that I will not get into here.

I've been a self-employed carpenter for 20 years. You might want to check with the local lumber yard or other suppliers this guy has used. References can be hand picked, but the suppliers have a pretty good idea of what kind of work a guy does and what kind of business he operates. I don't think you want to be your own general contractor. Not only do you not have the time to mess with it, but every builder has subs he knows and is used to working with. That's not a bad thing necessarily. The way things are now he's not going to make much on his subs, but what you gain is his experience, his control of quality and his control of schedule and budget for a relatively small price. If you get the right guy, he'll appreciate all the work and reward you with a good, timely job at the quality level you're looking for. Try to talk through a few of the issues and see what his experience and attitude are like. Also ask him if he directly oversees the entire job, or walks away and leaves it to some other guys. The price is good, find out about the other things.

Well, it looks like you have lots of good advice here, you should Definitely get several estimates, check references, ask for their last 5 jobs in chronological order, any big gaps should be considered a possible issue unless otherwise explained. Check with your local building dept. as well as your dept. of Consumer protection if you have one. The BBB is also a good resource. As far as price is concerned you are lucky prices here are much higher, I was low bid on a 24X26 detached garage at $39,000.00, $17,000.00 in ground work and foundation only. Best of luck! Hope this helped.